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Pitz elected fellow of Society of Automotive Engineers

Physicist Bill Pitz (MSD) has been elected as fellow of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE). Bill studies combustion phenomenon in various types of engines. The fellow grade of membership was established by the society in 1975 to honor and recognize important engineering, scientific, and leadership achievements that enhance the status of SAE’s contributions to the…

LLNL experimentalist climbing ranks of physics society

As an experimentalist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) developing diagnostics and experimental techniques in the field of dynamic high-pressure physics, Peter Celliers is on the path of leading a national topical group of the American Physical Society (APS). Celliers was recently elected to the executive committee as vice-chair of the American Physical…

Former LLNL intern makes history when she is named first Black woman to lead brigade at Naval Academy

Sydney Barber, former intern at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), is making history at the United States Naval Academy. It was recently announced that 1st class midshipman Barber will become brigade commander next semester, the highest leadership position in the brigade, making her the first Black woman to be named in the role. The first female brigade…

Great People: Carlos Valdez

Growing up in Lima, Peru, Livermore chemist Carlos Valdez excelled in art and soccer. But his first love was science.

Four LLNL scientists honored as APS fellows

Four Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists have been selected as 2020 fellows of the American Physical Society (APS). The new fellows represent a selection of physics expertise, ranging from laser plasma physics to magnetic fusion plasmas, to theoretical and computational understanding of plasma interactions and soft X-ray and free electron laser…

LLNL researchers named to planetary science panels

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) geologist Lars Borg and physicist Megan Bruck Syal were named by the National Academies of Science to a pair of Planetary Science and Astrobiology Decadal Survey committees last week, Borg as a member of the survey’s steering committee and Syal as a member of the Small Solar System Bodies panel. Over the coming year, the two…

Carter named spectroscopy fellow

Chance Carter (MSD) has been named a fellow for the Society of Applied Spectroscopy (SAS). Fellowship is intended to recognize outstanding members for their service to the society and exceptional contributions to spectroscopy. Chance will be recognized at a special ceremony during SAS’s national meeting in October in Nevada.

Perron receives TMS Young Leaders Professional Development Award

Laboratory materials scientist Aurélien Perron (MSD) was selected to receive the 2020 Young Leaders Professional Development Award from the Functional Materials Division of The Minerals, Metals, and Materials Society (TMS). This award was created to enhance the professional development of dynamic young people from the five technical divisions of TMS by helping them…

Forensic scientist wins 'outstanding' early career award

A chemist who is the director of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s (LLNL) Forensic Science Center is the recipient of the 2020 “Outstanding Early Career Achievement in Forensic Science Award.” The award, given to LLNL’s Audrey Williams, is presented annually by the American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS) Past Presidents Council. This year’s award will be…

PLS postdocs shine at Research Slam! competition

On October 29, 2019, twelve Lawrence Livermore postdocs took to the stage, each with three slides and three minutes to answer the question: “Why is your research important?” The presentations, part of a yearly competition known as the Research Slam!, were a culmination of months of development, training, and practice. The 2019 program kicked off with seminars about…

Belof elected Kavli Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences

Jon Belof, a group leader in MSD and a physicist at LLNL since 2010, has been elected a Kavli Fellow of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences (NAS). As a recently elected fellow, Jon was invited to attend the NAS Frontiers of Science symposium in Irvine, California, the academy’s premiere activity for distinguished young scientists. Here, he presented his research on non…

Energy Secretary honors Lab scientist's contributions to stockpile stewardship

Secretary of Energy Rick Perry recognized Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) chemist Bill McLean with a Secretary’s Achievement Award Wednesday in recognition of "pioneering technical contributions that have led to significant advancements in science-based stockpile stewardship." The Secretary’s Honor Awards are bestowed on individuals who have a singular…

Five researchers named to '40 Under 40' list

Five Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) researchers join an eclectic group of entrepreneurs, writers, executives, philanthropists and more on Diablo Magazine’s annual "40 Under 40" list, which recognizes young professionals in the East Bay who are leading the charge in their fields. Louisa Pickworth, an experimental physicist and group leader in the Physics…

Victory Through Annihilation: Jason Brodsky’s Neutrinos that Saved the Universe

Jason Brodsky says his work is like “looking for a candle in a raging inferno.” But the Lawrence Livermore physicist believes finding that “candle” could be the key to understanding existence itself. Brodsky’s specialty is rare-event detection, both during his Princeton graduate work on dark matter and his current postdoctoral research at LLNL, in which he searches for…

Learning to love science from gazing at planets

The moment Louisa Pickworth saw the rings of Saturn through her father’s backyard telescope, she knew she wanted to become a scientist to learn "more and more and more." Today, Pickworth, 32, is one of LLNL’s heralded young physicists for her work developing cutting-edge X-ray diagnostics to help scientists learn more about ultrahigh energy physics and inertial confinement…

Cohen honored with computational plasma physics award

Retiree Bruce Cohen (PHYS) has been selected as the recipient of the 2018 IEEE Nuclear and Plasma Sciences Society’s Charles K. Birdsall Award for “contributions to the numerical simulation of plasmas, particularly multiple time-scale methods, and to their application to diverse plasma physics problems, from laser–plasma interactions to tokamaks.” The Birdsall Award…

Pushing Boundaries in Plasma Physics: Michael Campanell Brings His Revolutionary Model to LLNL

When Michael Campanell was a graduate student at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, he noticed something unusual: the boundary physics simulation he was running wasn’t behaving the way it was supposed to. A century of plasma theory predicted one thing, but Campanell’s simulation was doing another. This was the impetus for his thesis, and a big challenge to the status…

Go-getter undergrad lands second-author credential for 'hydrogen-getters' research

It’s rare for an undergraduate science student to appear as an author on a scientific journal paper, and when they do, theirs is usually the last name on the list. However, Elizabeth Sangalang, a graduating senior studying biochemistry at California State University East Bay, has landed a second-author credential through the research she completed as a summer intern at…

2017 Research Slam is a hit

On Sept. 7, 2017, 12 postdoc finalists of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's 2017 Research Slam! talked for three minutes each about their work before a distinguished panel of judges. The postdocs were competing for monetary prizes of two, three and four thousand dollars for third, second and first place winners, but perhaps the biggest prize was the chance to…

PLS postdocs embrace Research Slam

Picture this: it's the day of your first poster presentation as a postdoc. You've picked out your best professional suit (or your only professional suit, reserved just for this occasion), your poster has been beautifully printed with help from the Lab's print plant, and your heart is racing with nerves and excitement. Your first interested visitor stops by, quizzically…